Holloween Hatred
by LovelyLivy
Summary: It's Halloween and on a search for some witnesses Tony see's someone he hasn't seen in almost three years. Slight Tiva. Jeanne/Tony if you seriously squint. Very, very angsty. Please review, it's my first for this ship!


**_Wow. Okay so this is Jeanne/Tony and slightly Tiva. My first for the ship and kinda for the concept. Just wanted something seriously angsty! :) Like? Dislike? Please Review! Makes my day! lol._**

**_AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN! _**

**_Liv_**

* * *

All Hallow's Eve was never her favorite holiday.

When she was little she would dress up every year, of course. A pumpkin, a ghost, a princess, a rock star. One year, she remembers, she was even a character from one of her favorite TV shows. Each year she would go out and gather candy. And each year her father was never there.

Her father always said the holiday was idiotic. He didn't understand why little children should pretend to be something they are not, he said the idea was stupid and children should be studying instead of acting like greedy little things, asking for candy. She never questioned him, just nodded. And there was no problem.

But it still hurt. Each year the other girls would have father's or mother's to escort them from home to home, and to help them sort candy when they were finished with their little endeavor. Though other girls envied Jeanne for her beauty, she envied them for their family.

Now that she had become a mother herself, she swore that even if the holiday brought back bad memories for her, Amelie would not be effected. So, on her daughter's second Halloween, Jeanne dressed her up in a pumpkin outfit to start a tradition, bought a few bags of candy, and hung lights outside the house. The neighborhood would get more than enough trick or treaters, she knew. No use just sitting at home and turning out all the lights.

The first came about five. A few princesses. A superman. A police officer. Smiling faces and dimples and sparkling eyes. The innocence was welcoming. Amelie had become an avid walker, her chubby toddler legs pulling herself toward the door every time the doorbell rang. Jeanne took delight in seeing her giggle when the visitors all screamed the usual greeting.

One mother who came to the door with her young Batgirl daughter gushed about how beautiful Amie was. How green her eyes were. Commented on how she must get them from her Mom. Jeanne said nothing but nodded and gave a tight smile. If they only knew.

Around eight you could tell the little girl was getting very tired. Jeanne tried to lay her on the couch but Amie sat right back up and rubbed her eyes stubbornly, making her mother chuckle. It was past her usual bedtime, but she would not budge. It reminded Jeanne so much of him.

Finally, around nine-thirty, her daughter laid her head on her mother's chest, sweet-smelling brown curls in a tangled disarray from the nights chaos, and her little eyes fluttered shut.

And then...a knock at the door. Amie wasn't a heavy sleeper in the slightest, and the sudden sound reverberating through the air had her up and moving before you could blink. Jeanne held back a curse out loud.

She picked her clearly unhappy daughter up and made way towards the door, certain that if it was some kid she would have to explain to them what 'no lights on' meant.

The cold doorknob was twisted, and there, jeans, jacket, and baseball cap clad, was the man who had broken her heart. And the man she accused of murder. She stood, shell shocked, mouth slightly open, cold air hitting her tired eyes, staring at a man who had much the same persona.

"Jeanne."

The little girl who had previously had her head of curls buried in the crook of Jeanne's neck looked up abruptly, as if she sensed the angst of the situation. She started to pull her mother's hair.

"Tony." The word came out in a breath. She realized how dry her throat felt. She licked her lips. The air had left her lungs when she saw him, and she tried not to hyperventilate and she figured out what him seeing Amelie meant. The explanations that it would most likely lead to.

"Happy Halloween."

Yes, that was Tony. He searches for words and comes out with this. Seeing Jeanne was a shock to say the least, to him. She looked good. The child had to be hers, he knew. The same high cheek bones, even rosy and dimpled. Nose, mouth. Even someone who wasn't a skilled investigator like he was could see the similarities between the two females. Her eyes, however, they looked so familiar.

Jeanne still said nothing. Then,

"Tony, what are you doing here?"

That snapped him out of his reverie. He had a job to do.

"A few houses down a woman and her husband, uh, a Petty Officer, and their daughter were, uh..." He flushed a little bit, appearing naturally flustered.

"Murdered?" It was a guess on Jeanne's part, yes, but there were only so many reasons...

Then, Amelie, in all her cuteness, squealed, quite loudly, "Hi!"

Tony took a step forward and squatted down a bit so he could get eye to eye level with her. "Well, hello, there."

"What did you need?" Jeanne ignored him and Amelie's greetings. The bitterness that overwhelmed her came on quickly but filled her deeply. He shouldn't be here.

He looked up, not completely shocked by the sudden change in behavior. He knew she didn't necessarily like him now.

"We were just going to see if anybody heard anything or saw anything because-..."

"No. Amelie and I have been passing out candy for a few hours and she was just getting to sleep when you-.." He cut her off, just as she had done to him.

"I'm sorry."

The two words could be taken as just a simple apology, but Jeanne knew they meant more. He was still looking at her daughter. He must see the similarities...he had to.

"It's fine. She's not a deep sleeper anyway." She let him nod. She let him say he missed her. She nodded.

She wanted to tell him right then. She wanted to explain that she hadn't known she was going to have his baby when she accused him of murder. That she wanted him to know Amie. But that didn't happen.

It was awkward as he said she looked good. And she said he looked good too. Which wasn't a lie at all. And then the reason her gut said not to say anything appeared.

The woman was lithe and graceful even in pregnancy. Her long dark hair was up in a bun, her dark eyes sharp but kind in some way. It was his partner. His real partner.

Jeanne said goodbye before Ziva could arrive at her doorstep. She shut the door in Tony's face, praying that he would not ask for more communication. There was never another disturbance that night.

She slid down against the doorway just after she'd put Amelie, long since past out, into her bed. Her tears were hot and her hair stuck to her forehead.

She really hated All Hallow's Eve.


End file.
